Although it is nice to get out once in a while, being back home feels good. Even though there are usually more distractions here and a never-ending list of things to do, there is something comforting about being in my own space. It’s nice to settle back into a familiar routine, sit at my own desk, and study in a place where I’m comfortable.

I finally went looking through Kevin’s old middle school yearbook for a friend who has been trying to find some old pictures. I managed to find his eighth-grade yearbook, but unfortunately, I couldn’t find the specific pictures she was looking for. Maybe they were in the seventh-grade yearbook instead. I don’t have Kevin’s seventh-grade yearbook, though, so that makes it harder. I sent her a text because there’s also a chance I’m simply overlooking them, or maybe I’m searching through the wrong yearbook altogether.

It’s difficult trying to find pictures in a yearbook when you only recognize a handful of people. Since I didn’t go to school there, most of the faces and names mean nothing to me. Back then, I was living in Chula Vista and attending a completely different school, so I don’t really have any familiarity with the people in those pages. The people I do know, I know from high school when I moved to Los Angeles County. Flipping through Kevin’s yearbook feels a little like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Meanwhile, the closet situation has somehow exploded into the office. What started as pulling a few things out turned into totes and random items spreading everywhere. I need to put everything back, but I’m waiting to hear back from her first before I finish. For now, I should probably start studying and get some work done. Once I make some progress with that, I’ll tackle putting all the totes back into the closet and hopefully get the office looking normal again.

As I’m going through the totes in the closet, I can already see places where I could declutter and get rid of things I no longer need. But that feels like a project for another day, one of those bigger undertakings that I don’t really have time to dive into today. I’d rather wait until my new desk and drawers are set up so I’ll actually have a place for everything. I want to be able to put my things away intentionally and organize them in a way that makes sense instead of shifting things around temporarily.

I can’t wait until I have my new desk. It feels like more than just getting a piece of furniture; it feels like stepping into a new chapter. There’s something about creating a new workspace that always feels tied to a new version of life. I started thinking about all the desks and little workspaces I’ve had over the years. From childhood to now, they’ve changed and evolved alongside me, morphing as my life shifted and as the spaces I lived in changed, too.

My desk has always been more than a desk. It’s been a small world of my own. I’ve always had a desk in my room. It’s where I did homework, wrote stories, and filled journal pages with thoughts I wanted to keep. It’s where I sat doing crafts, sketching, doodling, and creating things just because I felt like making something. It’s where I typed on an old typewriter, then a word processor, before eventually trading it for a computer. Over the years, notebooks multiplied into stacks, joined by sketchbooks, diaries, loose papers, and half-finished ideas.

It has always been the place where my favorite things stayed within reach: stationery, art supplies, books, pens I liked using, and little objects that made the space feel like mine. Looking back, every workspace seems to hold a snapshot of a different version of me.

Ok, I really need to start studying now. I’ve been writing for almost an hour now.

As I was sitting on my lunch break, I started thinking about something: junk journaling seems to be such a big trend right now. But isn’t junk journaling basically just scrapbooking with a new name? Scrapbooking has been around for years. People have been gathering around tables with overflowing supply carts full of thrifted paper finds, vintage receipts, old magazines, scraps of ribbon, stickers, photos, and little keepsakes. Every piece has a story attached to it, and every page becomes a collection of memories and personality. That sounds an awful lot like scrapbooking to me.

Maybe the style is a little different now. Junk journaling seems to lean into a more layered, imperfect, collected-over-time look, while scrapbooking often felt more organized and polished. But at their core, they seem so similar. Both are about saving moments, preserving memories, and turning everyday bits and pieces into something meaningful.

I haven’t scrapbooked in years. I do still have a few scrapbook pages I made. I guess things just evolve over time. Maybe my memory journal is my version of scrapbooking now, or my version of a junk journal. Different name, same idea: collecting pieces of life and giving them a place to stay.

Yes, I need to get back to studying. I’m watching cybersecurity videos and then back to quizzing myself.

I went through the yearbook again, but I still couldn’t find the pictures. I think they’re probably in his seventh-grade yearbook, which I don’t have. I put the yearbook back into the tote and returned the rest of the totes to the closet. Looking through Kevin’s things made me feel a little sad.

I’ve also been feeling a bit anxious today, though I’m not really sure why. On a brighter note, Alexis bought me a bottle of Coke Zero. I’m saving it for dinner tonight.

Karissa called the school and explained that her old school didn’t recognize one of the forms her current school was requesting. In the end, the school told her they only needed her high school diploma. Really? After all of this, that’s all they needed?

So now we’re waiting for the scholarship form to arrive in her email. Once we get it, we’ll print everything out and send the diploma along with the other forms they requested at the same time.

Tommy has practice tonight. I’m not sure where he is going to go for dinner tonight. We are having quesadillas. Alexis bought some ingredients last night for quesadillas, and having Alex make it tonight. Alex got permission to use Tommy’s Blackstone griddle. I told Alex I would show him how to clean it.

I did laundry today. It’s waiting for me to put it away. I think I will study a bit more and then put the clothes away. Tomorrow, Tommy has a day off. We are going to go to the library and study. It is tough to study at home without distractions.